In 2005 I had the great pleasure of compiling and editing a collection called The Blind Harper Dances: 54 Modern English Country Dances Set to Tunes by Turlough O’Carolan. It was wonderful to engage with people from many countries writing dances to Carolan’s tunes, and it was also great fun to learn more about that famous blind Irish harper, who lived from 1670 to 1738.
People keep writing dances! So here we have The Blind Harper 
Dances Again: More Modern English Country Dances Set to Tunes by Turlough O’Carolan. As you scroll down you will see the listings of dances, choreographers, and tunes with links to downloadable pdfs. Farther down the page are links to Carolan tunes recorded by the Pittsburgh-based ensemble Amarillis. Finally, at the very end, are some Useful Links as well as notes for musicians.
The Blind Harper Dances Again
| Title | |||||
| A Welcome Dream Download PDF | Robert Olson | Carolan’s Welcome Download Sheet Music | Am or Em | 3/4 | LW DM |
| Abbot's Score Download PDF | Trevor Monson | Luke Dillon Download Sheet Music | D | 3/4 | 4C |
| Abigail’s Whimsey Download PDF | Val Medve | Abigail Judge Download Sheet Music | Gm | 4/4 | LW DM |
| Anniversary Dance Download PDF | Paula Kelley, Martha Kent, Val Medve | Kean O’Hara, first air Download Sheet Music | D | 3/4 | LW DM |
| The Bonfire Download PDF | Martha Kent | Mrs. Judge, second air Download Sheet Music | Em | 3/4 | 3C |
| Bumper Squire Jones Download PDF | Cara King | Thomas Morres Jones a/k/a Bumper Squire Jones Download Sheet Music | D | 6/8 | LW DM |
| Captain Sudley Download PDF | Val Medve | Captain Sudley, or, Carolan’s Dowry Download Sheet Music | D | 4/4 | 3C |
| Devotion Download PDF | Bob Olson | Miss Fetherston, or, Carolan’s Devotion Download Sheet Music | Gm or Em | 3/4 | 3C |
| Elizabeth and Abigail Download PDF | Martha Kent | Mrs. Judge, first air Download Sheet Music | E Dorian | Strathspey | 3C |
| Gavin’s Fancy Download PDF | Greta Christina | Carolan’s Welcome Download Sheet Music | Am or Em | 3/4 | LW DM |
| Golden Celebrations Download PDF | Dave Turner | Ode to Whiskey Download Sheet Music | D | 3/4 or 6/8 | 4C |
| The Gordian Knot\ Download PDF | Judith Hanson | The Queen’s Dream Download Sheet Music | Am | 3/4 | LW DM |
| Halfway ‘Round the World Download PDF | Lise Dyckman | Planxty Drew (A music), Planxty Wilkinson (B) Download Sheet Music | Gm | 6/8 | LW DM |
| Hey Girls Download PDF | Judith Hanson | Mrs. Farrell Download Sheet Music | Gm | 6/8 | 3C |
| Lady Ann Download PDF | Susan Amessé | Planxty Lady Wrixon Download Sheet Music | Em | 6/8 | LW DM IMP |
| Moonlight in Monrovia Download PDF | Cara King | Carolan’s Welcome Download Sheet Music | Am or Em | 3/4 | LW DM IMP |
| Mrs. Maxwell Revisited Download PDF | Val Medve | Mrs. Maxwell, first air Download Sheet Music | D | 2/4 | 4C |
| The Shell House by the Lake Download PDF | Antony Heywood | Miss Fetherston, or, Carolan’s Devotion Download Sheet Music | Gm or Em | 3/4 | |
| Trip to Pasadena Download PDF | Cara King | Planxty Connor Download Sheet Music | G | 6/8 | 3C LW |
| Trip to Worcester Download PDF | Don & Diane Bell | Planxty Hewlett Download Sheet Music | D | 3/4 | LW DM |
Amarillis (Maro Avakian, piano; Donna Isaac, violin; Allison Thompson, concertina, recorder, accordion) has been playing for English country dancing for more than 35 years. They are joined on this recording by guest artists Linda McNair, who plays harp on tracks 3, 5, 7, & 11, & Sue Pellant Moore, who plays oboe on tracks 8, 10, & 12, & high whistle on track 12.
If you like this music, please consider donating to the Country Dance & Song Society.
| # | Tune Name | Suitable for. . . | Key/strong> | Meter | Times Through | Timing |
| 1 | Planxty Hewlett Play Song Download | Antony Heywood’s An Enchanted Place or Judith Hanson’s Michael’s Waltz | D | 3/4 | 32 bars x 4 | Intro: 2 notes; 1st B at 0:25; 3:17 long |
| 2 | Blind Mary Play Song Download | Ken Sheffield’s Irish Mary | D | 2/4 | 32 bars x 4 | Intro: 2 bars; 1st B a 0:26; 2:52 long |
| 3 | Kitty Magennis / Bridget Cruise, 3rd air Play Song Download | Carolyn and Maurice Dunnett’s Swirl of the Sea | Gm/G | 3/4 | 32 bars x 4 + 32 (4 bar bridge from last round to a 32-bar free waltz) | Intro: 2 bars; 4:36 long |
| 4 | Luke Dillon Play Song Download | Ken Sheffield’s Luke Dillon | D | 3/4 | 40 bars x 4 | Intro: 2 bars; 1st B at 0:37; 4:49 long |
| 5 | Frank Palmer Play Song Download | Ken Sheffield’s Frank Palmer | A | 6/8 | 32 bars x 7 | Intro: 2 bars; 1st B at 0:23; 5:11 long |
| 6 | Mrs. Maxwell, 1st air Play Song Download | Dave Turner’s Stockton Ruby Celebrations | D | 2/4 | 32 bars x 3 | Intro: 2 bars; 1st B at 0:23; 2:45 long |
| 7 | Bridget Cruise, 4th air Play Song Download | Ken Sheffield’s Bridget Cruise | G | 3/4 | 32 bars x 3 | Intro: 2 bars; 1st B at 0:40; 4:02 long |
| 8 | Abigail Judge Play Song Download | Fried de Metz Herman’s We Were So Young | Gm | 4/4 | 32 bars x 7 | Intro: 2 notes; 1st B at 0:25; 4:41 long |
| 9 | Captain Sudley, or, Carolan’s Dowry Play Song Download | Anthony Heywood’s Exwood United | D | 4/4 | 32 bars x 6 | Intro 4 beats; 1st B at 0:25; 3:57 long |
| 10 | Constantine Maguire Play Song Download | Dave Turner’s Hartburn Village | D | 2/4 | 32 bars x 7 | Intro: chord; 1st B at 0:22; 4:01 long |
| 11 | Young Terence McDonough Play Song Download | Fried de Metz Herman’s Cat in the Window | Gm | 3/4 | 32 bars x 6 | Intro 2 bars; 1st B at 0:38; 6:10 long |
| 12 | Miss MacMurray Play Song Download | Charles Bolton’s Orliana | Dm | 6/8 | 32 bars x 4 | Intro: 2 notes; 1st B at 0:28; 5:47 long |
| 13 | Planxty Irwin Play Song Download | Ken Sheffield’s Colonel John Irwin, John Wood’sFarewell to Bude, and Charles Bolton’s M Mrs. Pike’s Maggot | G | 3/4 | 32 bars x 4 | Intro: 4 bars; 1ast B at 0:34; 3:32 long |
| 14 | Captain O’Kane Play Song Download | Fried de Metz Herman’s Winter Waltz | Em | 3/4 | 32 bars x 6 | Intro: 2 notes; 1st B at 0:28; 4:54 long |
Recording Engineer: Harold Walls. Recorded at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
All arrangement © 2005 by Amarillis. Other recordings by Amarillis include Waltzing in the Trees and In-Step.
A Note for Musicians (but Callers and Dancers should Read this too!)
Carolan’s tunes weren’t written down until almost 100 years after his death, so we don’t know how he actually played them (though he was not considered a particularly proficient performer). The folk process continues working on his tunes. Consider the chords given as a suggestion—feel free to add or delete, or to use one set of chords the first time through a phrase and a different set the second time. Likewise, you can experiment some with the melodies: add trills and ornaments, shape runs differently, add or remove the dotted notes. Make these tunes your own.
Finally note that Carolan played a harp that did not have sharping levers—the little levers at the top of every string that harpers can flick even as they play to sharpen or flatten a given note. Harper Ellen Tepper reminded me that Carolan’s harp was tuned in the key of C, meaning that he could play easily in C, Am and D-Dorian (all the white notes from D to D on the piano). Ellen tells me that Carolan could have handled accidentals by tuning them in another octave and jumping up there for them (“Scordaturo tuning”), but we just don’t know if he did. Over time, accidentals have crept into various versions of his tunes. Some I like; many I do not. Decide for yourself!
See These Links:
Donal O’Sullivan’s definitive listing and transcriptions of Carolan’s tunes on The Old Music Project.
Captain Francis O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1850 tunes! The Carolan tunes are not quite as reliable as O’Sullivan’s but still interesting). This is also housed on The Old Music Project website.
In April 2020, harper Anastasia Sergeeva organized the Carolan Lockdown Challenge, a project in which harpers around the world were randomly assigned a Carolan tune to record and post on YouTube. See harper Corrina Hewat playing #41 Planxty Drew. From this you can find more!